Principles and Practice of Business Continuity: Tools and Techniques [Paperback]

Jim Burtles (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1931332398 | ISBN-13: 978-1931332392 | Publication Date: July 1, 2007 | Edition: Har/Cdr

Unique Opportunity to Learn from a World-Renowned
Pioneer and Legend in Business Continuity Management

In his preface, Lyndon Bird, Technical Services Director for The Business Continuity Institute
observes:

Jim Burtles is one of the few practitioners who has both the depth of knowledge and length of experience to write what might arguably be the most comprehensive review of the subject ever produced....gives us an authoritative view from someone who has really seen and done it all during a long and outstanding BCM career.

This comprehensive how-to guide captures the distilled wisdom and experience of Jim Burtles, a Founding Fellow of the Business Continuity Institute;an internationally renowned pioneer and legend in business continuity management, withover 30 years of experience and teaching across 22 countries;and a veteran of varied practical experience that includes not only recovery work with victims of bombings, earthquakes, storms and fires, but also technical assistance in more than 90 disasters and guidance for clients in over 200 emergency situations.

As such, this book is a gold mine of practical information, based on solid theoretical underpinnings. It is an ideal combination of the practice of business continuity standards, best practices, global perspectives and the process of business continuity planning, development, implementation, and maintenance.Jim presents a clear picture of not only how to do what needs to be done, but also why. By striking a balance between theory and practice, Jim's approach makes the reader's job much easier and more effective.

If you re a beginner needing to learn the basic theory and practice of business continuity management (BCM), or a seasoned professional wishing to gain new insights, this book offers you the unique opportunity to learn from one of the best in the business.

It includes a wealth of features:

***Comprehensive how-to guide with basic BCM principles, best practices, and case studiesgleaned from around the world.

***Accompanying BCP Tool Kit on CD with 24 planning and analysis tools,including sample plans for business continuity, evacuation, emergency response, and crisis management; scripts and plot development tools for creating exercises to test and audit plans; analysis tools for fire exposure, service impact, resource requirements, etc.; checklists; case studies; reader self-assessment; and Web references.

***Chapter overviews and conclusions; charts, graphs and checklists throughout.

***Glossy of 90 business continuity terms.

***Ideal for training courses--for upper-level undergraduate, graduate, certificate and corporate includes Instructor Materials on CD, PowerPoint slides, test bank, syllabus and instructor s manual.

CONTENTS OF CD WITH BCP TOOL KIT
1. Risk Assessment Tool
2. Impact Analysis Tool
3. Key Function Selection List
4. Recovery Needs Analysis Tool
5. Critical Data Checklist
6. Dummy Business Continuity Plan
7. Business Continuity Plan Checklist
8. Sample Evacuation Plan
9. Emergency Evacuation Checklist
10. Sample Emergency Response Plan
11. Emergency Manager's Notes
12. Emergency Response Checklist
13. Systems Recovery Checklist
14. Sample Crisis Management Plan
15. Fire Exposure Analysis Tool
16. Service Impact Analysis Tool
17. Resource Requirements Analysis Tool
18. Plot Development Tool for Exercise Scenarios
19. Emergency Move Checklist
20. Sample Exercise Script
21. Exercise Facilitator's Checklist
22. Exercise Log
23. Sample Exercise Report
24. Outline Holding Statement

Editorial Reviews

Review

REVIEWS

An invaluable, comprehensive and practical guide to assist companies of all sizes with their Business Continuity Planning written by a BC practitioner with years of experience to help others learn and avoid pitfalls.
-- Survive - The Business Continuity Group



Jim Burtles is one of the few practitioners who have both the depth of knowledge and length of experience to write what might arguably be the most comprehensive review of the subject ever produced.

Jim's contribution to Business Continuity has been enormous his unfailing intellectual rigor about his subject, his passion for persuading others of its importance and his determination to turn Business Continuity Management into a mainstream management discipline has never wavered. When others might have thought of retiring, Jim has just started on another challenge, the latest being this formidable tour de force through the complexities of Business Continuity.

With so much current debate about the exact nature and boundaries of Business Continuity Management, this book puts it all into perspective and gives us an authoritative view from someone who has really seen and done it all during a long and outstanding BCM career.
-- Lyndon Bird, Technical Services Director, The Business Continuity Institute



Jim Burtles has made an important addition to the written materials available to business continuity planners. It is comprehensive without being tedious and provides an excellent base line for both planning neophytes and a useful reference for more experienced practitioners.

Business continuity originally lumped together with other types of disaster recovery is increasingly important in a world where all types of disasters seem to occur with increasing frequency. A look back at very recent events reveals product recalls, forest fires, earthquakes, storms, bombings, and floods, just to name a few. Each brought with it not only personal tragedies and dislocations, but also threats to the viability of businesses located in the disaster area(s). Businesses generally recognize the need to and importance of good planning in this area to ensure that they respond well to such incidents especially with regard to mitigating damage and getting back to normal afterward.

However, such planning is neither straightforward nor easy to do. There are many twists and turns along the path to a comprehensive and well-functioning business continuity plan. Those charged with this function always welcome a good reference to ease the task and ensure that as few loose ends as possible are left. Principles and Practice of Business Continuity: Tools and Techniques is just such a basic reference. Its author, Jim Burtles, has over 30 years of international experience in a wide variety of disasters that has equipped him to write an overview of what goes into business continuity planning and his book does this very well. Of particular value is the CD that accompanies the book enhancing its value as a text and as a reference. The CD has 24 planning and analysis tools, including sample plans, checklists, and exercise guides, along with case studies, exercises web references, and more.
-- Security Management Magazine
--Reviews 1

Jim Burtles is one of the few practitioners who have both the depth of knowledge and length of experience to write what might arguably be the most comprehensive review of the subject ever produced. Jim s contribution to Business Continuity has been enormous --- his unfailing intellectual rigour about his subject, his passion for persuading others of its importance and his determination to turn Business Continuity Management into a mainstream management discipline has never wavered. When others might have thought of retiring Jim has just started on another challenge, the latest being this formidable 'tour de force' through the complexities of Business Continuity. With so much current debate about the exact nature and boundaries of Business Continuity Management, this book puts it all into perspective and gives us an authoritative view from someone who has really seen and done it all during a long and outstanding BCM career. --Lyndon Bird, Technical Services Director, The Business Continuity Institute.

Business continuity is increasingly important in a flat world where disasters seem to occur with greater frequency: product recalls, forest fires, earthquakes, storms, bombings, and floods, just to name a few. Each brings with it not only personal tragedies and dislocations but also threats to the viability of affected businesses. Companies generally recognize the need for planning to ensure that they respond well to such incidents especially with regard to mitigating damage and getting back to normal afterward. But the path to a comprehensive and well-functioning business continuity plan is filled with twists, turns, and roadblocks. Those charged with this function always welcome a solid, fundamental guidebook. This work is just that kind of basic reference. Its author has more than 30 years of international experience in a wide variety of disasters, which has equipped him to write an overview of what goes into business continuity planning and his book does this very well. Of particular practical value is the book s accompanying CD-ROM, which has 24 planning and analysis tools, including sample plans, checklists, exercise guides, case studies, exercises, Web references, and more. --Security Management Magazine

About the Author

JIM BURTLES, KLJ, MMLJ, FBCI, is a well known international leader in the business continuity profession, with 30 years of experience spread across 22 countries. He is a founding fellow of the Business Continuity Institute where he served as a director for over ten years. As the original Standards Officer, he was heavily involved in the evolution of its professional standards and ethics.

He received the Freedom of the City of London honor in 1992 and was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by his peers in 2001. During 2004 he worked with the Cabinet Office in the United Kingdom, helping to develop their guidance material to support the Civil Contingencies Act (2004). He also represents the business community on the London Regional Resilience Team, which is the central coordinating body for London's response to an emergency.

During his 18 years with IBM, Jim was at the forefront of the emerging business continuity profession. His first involvement with Disaster Recovery was in 1976 as the field engineer responsible for repairing and recovering a critical banking system that had been struck by lightning. He went on to become IBM's disaster recovery country specialist before joining Safetynet as their principal consultant in 1987. (Safetynet was a leading small systems disaster recovery service which was subsequently acquired by Sungard).

In 2002 Jim set out on his own as the principal of Total Continuity Management, where he now focuses on executive-level training and support for Business Continuity Management (BCM) and the development of specialist emergency response skills.

During the early years he played a leading role in the development and expansion of disaster recovery principles and practices. Since then he has been instrumental in maturing those early pioneering methods into the professional skill set of the modern business continuity manager. When he first became involved in the subject there was no BCM body of knowledge to refer to since nothing had been published. Indeed, very few people had even thought about business continuity; so he set about inventing and developing ideas and theories to explain what the problems might be and how we could solve them. For example, the backlog trap, now accepted by almost everyone as a fact of life, was an early development of Jim s that paved the way for a more constructive approach to business resilience.

His practical experience includes hands-on recovery work with victims of events such as bombings, earthquakes, storms and fires. This includes technical assistance and support in 90+ disasters, as well as advice and guidance for clients in over 200 emergency situations. Through his activities as a trainer and consultant he has helped to introduce business continuity and its related disciplines into both the public and private sectors.

A regular speaker on the international scene, Jim Burtles has introduced over 2,500 people into the profession through formal training programs, and provided partial or top-up training for another 800+ through workshops covering specific subject or skill areas. He has also helped a number of consultancies and service providers to develop their methodologies, tools and professional services. This includes the design of specialist risk management tools, training courses and bespoke services for niche industries as well as the training of staff and clients.

Jim Burtles has carried out business continuity assignments (a mixture of auditing, training, consulting and research work) in Australia, Belgium, Cayman Islands, Denmark, Eire, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Holland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Nigeria, Norway, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, the US and throughout the UK.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Rothstein Associates Inc.; Har/Cdr edition (July 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931332398
• ISBN-13: 978-1931332392
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #719,599 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Business Continuity Planning at its best!, October 28, 2010

By 

Sherry - See all my reviews

This review is from: Principles and Practice of Business Continuity: Tools and Techniques (Paperback)

This book should be a staple in your library if you are responsible for business continuity and DR planning at your company. I was new to the field so I really appreciated how the book was layed out and how easy it was to transfer the information to my plan. There are a lot of applicable practices, tools, cheatsheets, etc that you can easily incorporate into your plan. I was very pleased with this book.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From the Publisher, March 4, 2008

By 

P. J Rothstein (Brookfield, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Principles and Practice of Business Continuity: Tools and Techniques (Paperback)

Jim Burtles is one of the business continuity professionals I most admire because of his long-standing commitment to the business continuity industry, and his extensive contributions to the profession over his broad career.

So, as a publisher (and as publisher of this book) I was thrilled when I first saw Jim's manuscript. There are not many people who could have written this book - and far fewer who could have written it nearly as well.

This book is an ideal combination of the practice of business continuity - standards, best practices, global perspective - and, the process of business continuity - planning, development, implementation, and so forth. Jim presents a clear picture of not just how to do what needs to be done, but why. By striking a balance between theory and practice, I believe Jim's approach makes the reader's job much easier and more effective.

There are other books on business continuity - I have edited or published many of them - but Jim Burtles' book is my favorite. With the included CD-ROM containing extensive tools and resources, this book is a no-brainer for anyone who wants to understand business continuity management, is about to embark on implementing a business continuity program, or is looking to bring an existing business continuity program up to world-class best practice.